Before you do it again next week…

Think about something you do at work every week.

• A report you create.
• A meeting you attend.
• An email you send.
• A process you follow.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why you do it?

Chances are, there’s a good reason.

But there’s also a chance the reason is simply:

Because that’s how we’ve always done it.

I get that consistency has a lot of value.

But at what point does consistency become complacency?

The goal isn’t to question everything or change for change’s sake.

It’s to challenge autopilot.

Here are three ways to do that.

#1: Make sure it’s still useful.

Imagine that every Friday, someone on your team spends two hours putting together a report.

They’ve done it for years.

It’s always gone out to the same six people.

So every week, off the report goes.

Maybe it’s incredibly valuable.

But when was the last time anyone actually asked?

• Who uses it?
• What do they use it for?
• Do they need all of this information?
• Is there anything missing that would make it more useful?

The point isn’t to prove that the report is unnecessary.

The point is to make sure it’s still serving the purpose it was designed to serve.

Sometimes the answer will be a resounding yes.

Great. Keep doing it.

But sometimes the answer might be, “Huh. Why ARE we still doing this?”

And that’s your opportunity to make a change instead of working on autopilot.

#2: Look for a better way.

Once you know something is still valuable, the next question is:

Is the way we’re doing it still the best way?

Maybe the report still needs to go out every Friday.

But does someone need to spend two hours creating it?

• Could part of it be automated?
• Could you eliminate information no one uses?
• Could you simplify the format?
• Could you pull the information from somewhere else?
• Could it go out every other week instead?

This is where we sometimes get stuck.

We think questioning a process means getting rid of it.

It doesn’t.

Sometimes it simply means making a good process better.

#3: Be willing to invest time upfront.

This is probably the hardest part.

Because stopping to question something takes time.

It might be faster this Friday to just spend two hours creating the report than to talk to six people about how they use it.

So you skip the conversation. And then you skip it again next week. And the week after that.

But which takes more time in the long run?

A 30-minute conversation today? Or two hours every Friday for the next six months?

We’re often so focused on getting through today’s work that we don’t stop long enough to ask whether there’s a better way to do tomorrow’s work.

That little bit of time upfront can save you hours six weeks, six months, or even six years from now.

The Bottom Line

We spend a lot of time asking: How can I get this done faster?

That’s a useful question.

But sometimes there’s an even better one:

Should we still be doing it this way in the first place?

Strong leadership isn’t about constantly changing what’s working.

It’s about staying curious.

It’s being willing to challenge autopilot and ask whether your time, energy, and resources still go toward what matters.

So this week, pick one thing you do automatically.

A report. A meeting. A recurring email. A process.

And ask: Are we doing this because it still works, or because we’ve always done it this way?

You might decide not to change a thing.

But at least you’ll know why.

Cheers,

Mridu

P.S. If you have a great team and know they could be even stronger with the right development, I’d love to help. My training programs help teams manage their time and energy more effectively while strengthening communication, leadership, and performance. Explore them here.